December Book

The December Book: Countdown, Day Ten

First up, in case you missed it, you can now enjoy my one and only foray into the world of Doctor Who for free here. If you enjoy that, you might also enjoy my jaunts into the expanding world of IrisWildthyme, which is not at all dissimilar to the Doctor’s (while also being very different indeed).

Woke at seven this morning, oddly achy from yesterday’s run. Received a text from Eva’s school trip to inform me that later today they will place my daughter in an enormous ball and drop her down a mountain. I’m pretty much okay with that.

Today is either the final day of The December Book, or the penultimate one. I’m happy either way. The manuscript currently stands at 95,624 words, and I expect I’ll cross 100,000 later on. The draft will definitely be a few thousand words longer, but it shouldn’t get too wildly out of control from here.

I’m starting with a scene of abject mayhem, which is always to be relished.

10:15 – 11:40. 1185 words. A long session to start with, battering away at keys. I know how this chapter plays out so have just pushed through it so far, putting the things in my head on to the page. Time to get up and walk about a bit now though.

12:15 – 13:30. 1101 words (2286 total). Chapter done, and mayhem accomplished (blood spraying! crowds in panicked terror! cats and dogs living together!). Two and a half more chapters still to go on this book. It’s infuriatingly near to done…

14:30 – 15:15. 314 words (2600 total). Uh oh. After lunch the most sweeping lethargy has set in. This has become a struggle, all of a sudden. I wasn’t expecting that, with the end in sight. I’ll take a lengthy break now, and see if it gets better or worse.

15:45 – 16:20. 479 words (3079 total). Things have definitely not improved. I’m determined to break that 100,000 words though. it’s actually an entirely arbitrary marker when you think about it, but that’s what I settled on and the day will feel like a failure if I don’t get there.

17:35 – 18:00. 634 words (4720 words). And that’s where I’ll stop for the day. It;s almost the ed of a chapter, but I’m not sure what the final note of the scene will be. I’ll see if I have any better an idea tomorrow.

I added 4720 words to The December Book today, bringing the word count up to 100,344. That half of this was achieved over ten working days has astonished me.

And I still think I have only another chapter and a half to write to call this draft done.

Out to dinner in a couple of hours, eating French, and then picking up Eva from the train station late on. If you’ve dropped by for your Friday freelance blog, then I have to disappoint. Sorry. I’m wiped. My brain has no more thinking in it.